


T.G.I.F.

by SirMuffinsworth



Series: Multiversal Snapshots of a Love Between a Spiky-Haired Boy and a Red-Haired Girl [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), F/F, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Hajime and Mahiru are the only sane ones, Implied/Referenced Sex, Post-Graduation, Recreational Drug Use, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29522082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirMuffinsworth/pseuds/SirMuffinsworth
Summary: Mahiru and Hajime are the only sober ones at a post-graduation class 77 party, and it is excruciating.The worst part is, it's all gonna happen again next Friday.Also, you know, they really like each other.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Koizumi Mahiru, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko/Pekoyama Peko (background), Mioda Ibuki/Tsumiki Mikan (background)
Series: Multiversal Snapshots of a Love Between a Spiky-Haired Boy and a Red-Haired Girl [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176581
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	T.G.I.F.

Mahiru Koizumi felt like she was dying.

Her head was pounding flashes of agony that reverberated through her skull like a jackhammer in slow motion. Her eyes felt liable to roll out of her head with fatigue. There was an odd burning sensation in her shoulder, from where she was pretty sure she had pulled something. Her stomach growled desperately, having only received nourishment six hours prior.

And it was only midnight.

“Let’s play some truth or dare!” Ibuki shouted from behind the photographer, slurring her words and holding up her pointer and pinky enthusiastically.

The whoops of agreement and debauchery from Mahiru’s classmates only served to worsen her headache.

She had been skeptical when Ibuki had approached her earlier that week with the prospect of a party for their class, to celebrate Fuyuhiko’s eighteenth birthday. After all, it was the middle of summer, and the entire class presumably had independent studies or other work they needed to be focusing on. However, with their career at Hope’s Peak behind them, and this being seemingly their last chance to get together as a class for a long while, Mahiru had agreed to attend.

Biggest mistake of her life? Maybe. Up there, at least.

Mahiru cleared away some counter space of empty alcohol cans to lay her head on. The cold marble soothed her burning skull if only somewhat, and temporarily at that.

“Yo, Mahiru!” Kazuichi waved her over, “You gonna get in on this or what?”

The very high mechanic was dissuaded from pushing the issue further by a death glare from Mahiru. As the rest of the former ultimates gathered around in a circle to begin the game that would undoubtedly end up having to be moderated by Mahiru, she was joined at her small island of temporary peace by the single person present that wasn’t getting on her nerves.

“Here, I found some aspirin in the cupboard,” Hajime said, setting down a bottle of painkillers and a tall glass of water in front of her, “You looked like you could use it.”

“What I could use is a coma,” she grumbled in reply, accepting the offered relief, “Thanks. You think we’re gonna have to get involved?”

The former reserve course boy sighed, taking a chair next to her, “They’re going clockwise. Teruteru goes in five turns, which means we’ve probably got about ten minutes of peace until we have to step in.”

The photographer rolled her eyes, glancing back to view her old classmates as they shared in their alcohol and marijuana-induced revelry.

“Where’s Sonia?” she asked, finding no trace of the Novoselican heiress.

“Passed out in the bathtub,” Hajime replied with a small smirk, “There was a half-empty bottle of fireball next to her. I tucked a pillow under her head and covered her in a blanket. She’s done for at least twelve hours.”

Mahiru sighed, “At least it’s one less person for us to keep dealing with. How the hell did we end up the only two sober ones again?”

Hajime shrugged, “Most of them intend to stay the night, so no need for designated drivers. You and I are just the only ones here who come to these things for the company rather than the cannabis or cocktails.”

“Coming here was a mistake for us, wasn’t it?”

“Probably. But hey, maybe it helps to have some stabilizing influences. Remember how Nagito tried to make mulled wine by putting a canned wine in the microwave? While it was still in the metal can?”

Mahiru chuckled, “Yeah, he would probably be dead if I hadn’t stopped that. And you were the one who pulled Ibuki off the table she was dancing on before the leg snapped and she broke something.”

Hajime nodded with a tired smile. They’d been at this for three hours now, keeping the 77th graduating class of Hope’s Peak from accidentally killing themselves, those around them, or from generally committing any crimes. It was hard work.

The photographer sighed in relief as the painkillers started to chip away at the fireball engulfing her head. She glanced around at the former pile of alcohol in the corner, realizing with shock that every single drop of the stuff had been done away with.

“Oh god, did they drink all of that?” she gasped, “There were at least two liters of hard vodka in there! They’re gonna be sick!”

“Well, they didn’t drink all of it,” Hajime shook his head, “While you were busy uh… recuperating, I confiscated the rest of the booze and weed and locked it in the attic. The key is in my pocket, along with everybody’s vehicle keys that I pickpocketed.”

Mahiru blinked, “Oh. That’s… proactive of you. Sorry I haven’t been as much help as I could have been, what with the migraine and all that.”

“Nah, you were fine. I’ve just been helping out from the sidelines, you’ve been doing most of the work with the people themselves.”

The photographer nodded, allowing herself a light smile, “Seriously. We just graduated high school, yet they’re all still acting like eighth graders who were left home alone for the first time.”

“I guess so,” Hajime chuckled, “From the stories Chiaki used to tell me, it seems like chaos was pretty normal for your class. I guess recreational drugs just kicks it up to eleven, huh?”

Mahiru cocked her head at him strangely.

“What?” he asked.

“N-nothing!” she blushed, glancing away quickly, “It’s just, um… strange to hear you talk like you aren’t one of us.”

Now it was Hajime’s turn to cock his head, “I’m… not, though? Reserve course, remember? You all right in there?”

“Of course I remember, dummy! I mean… you’ve just been around for so much stuff with our class, even since freshman year. Christmas parties, holidays, class vacations, festivals, all those times we interconnected celebrating New Year’s with your birthday… it just feels like you’ve always been one of us.”

A dusting of pink tinted Hajime’s cheeks as he smiled, “Well, that’s nice to hear you say. It’s all Chiaki’s doing, really, she was the one who got me so entangled with your class. And since Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and Ibuki seem to have grown attached, I’m a bit stuck.”

Mahiru forced down the urge to say, “I’m attached to you, too.”.

Instead, she decided on, “W-well, I’m glad to have somebody else normal around, if only to keep me grounded.”

“I feel the same way. Oop, Mikan’s taking her clothes off.”

Mahiru’s attention snapped back to the game of truth or dare, where the nurse was indeed removing her garments with a strangely blissful look on her face.

“NOPE!” she cried, stepping forward and tugging the girl’s shirt back down, “Alright, I’m vetoing this as one of the sane people here, you guys have to get to bed!”

“Aww, you’re no fun,” Ibuki groaned, “And her Ibuki was getting excited…”

“It’s past midnight, you guys,” Hajime chuckled, “If you don’t turn in now, you’re gonna regret it in the morning. Well, more than you already do. Besides, Peko is already asleep, see?”

The group turned to see that yes, the swordswoman was, in fact, asleep where she sat in the circle, head leaned on Fuyuhiko’s shoulder as the yakuza boy’s face lit up like a christmas bulb.

“It is past the Dark Devas’ bedtime,” Gundham nodded slowly, “Very well, I shall retire. Come, my generals.”

Gundham stalked off towards the couch, followed closely behind by a parade of hamsters.

“I agree,” Byakuya adjusted his glasses blearily, “Where shall we retire to, however? If Gundham has the couch, and I recall Sonia in the tub, where else is there?”

Mahiru frowned, turning to Fuyuhiko, “This is your house. Where can everybody sleep? It’s not exactly like they can drive home.”

Fuyuhiko thought for a moment, “There are some sleeping bags down in storage. We’ve got two available beds, which can be shared by two people each, so we probably have enough.”

Hajime nodded, “I’ll go grab the bags. You guys… I guess figure out who’s sleeping with who.”

“I volunteer to sleep with---” Teruteru started, raising his hand like an eager student in class.

“Nope,” Mahiru cut him off, grabbing the chef by the collar and tossing him away from Chiaki, who he had started to inch towards.

“A sleeping bag works for me,” Hiyoko spat in disgust at the chef, “And I’ll take it into another room, thanks. I don’t wanna hear any of you idiots snoring.”

“You snore the loudest out of any of us, if I remember our sleepovers correctly,” Chiaki monotoned, not looking up from her handheld console. Hiyoko flushed a light scarlet, but had no witty reply ready.

“Dibs on Mikan!” Ibuki exclaimed, picking up the nurse bridal-style and bouncing down the hall.

“Don’t make too much noise!” Fuyuhiko called after them, “Thin walls!”

“You two can get the last bed, Fuyuhiko,” Nekomaru nodded, “It’s your house, after all.”

The yakuza blanched, looking down at the sleeping swordswoman in his arms, but didn’t exactly object.

“Aww, I don’t wanna go to bed yet!” Akane whined, “I’m still too hyper! I gotta punch something!”

“If you have to punch something, go outside, Akane,” Mahiru patted the gymnast on the shoulder as Hajime returned with sleeping bags in hand, “Hit a tree or something. We don’t wanna destroy Fuyuhiko’s place, well, any more than you people already have.”

Akane huffed, but grabbed one of the sleeping bags from Hajime and stalked off towards the corner of the dining room.

One by one, the former class headed off towards their various sleeping arrangements. After it was determined that there was no way in hell Nekomaru was fitting in a sleeping bag, the manager agreed to go sleep in his car. Mahiru did not envy him, given the mid-august heat, but she was too exhausted already to find a different alternative.

Once the house was filled with the snores of the sleeping (and a distressing thumping coming from the room Ibuki and Mikan were sharing), Hajime pulled on an apron in the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Mahiru asked him.

“When they wake up, if they ever do,” the boy joked, “They’re gonna be in rough shape. Like, worse than you were. None of them are gonna be capable of making breakfast, but they’re all gonna need it, so it’s up to us.”

Mahiru’s head twinged at the thought of doing anything other than collapsing into sleep herself, but she knew he was right. Of course he was. 

“Alright, what are we making?” she sighed, washing up her hands in the sink.

“Given that Akane, Nekomaru, and Byakuya are three of the people we’re making it for, I’m thinking a crapton of eggs, bacon, toast, and there’s probably a thermos or two around here we can fill with warm milk.”

“Won’t all the food be cold by the time they wake up?”

Hajime chuckled, “For all the crap they’ve put us through tonight, these guys can eat one cold breakfast.”

Mahiru giggled and nodded, opening the fridge to check on the available ingredients.

“Well, we’ve got bacon,” she said, holding up a frozen brick of the stuff, “But I don’t see any eggs, and unless you know where Fuyuhiko keeps his bread…”

Hajime slapped a hand to his forehead, “You’re telling me he didn’t even get groceries in preparation for tonight?”

“Looks like it,” she sighed, “Oh well. We’ve done all we can at this point.”

The boy shook his head ruefully, removing the apron, “You’re right. I guess I’m gonna turn in. There’s no sleeping bags or pillows left, so I guess I’m gonna be taking the floor, heh.”

Mahiru blinked, “Wait, did you not drive here?”

“Nah, Chiaki was my ride, and we both know what’s going on there.”

“I drove Hiyoko and Ibuki here, I can drive you home if you want.”

“Oh no, my place is pretty out of your way, I wouldn’t want you to--”

“Hajime,” Mahiru cut him off, “Us sane people have to stick together, alright? I’ll drive you. And don’t worry about gas money, just call it returning the favour for the aspirin.”

Hajime smiled, “Well, in that case, thank you, Mahiru.”

The photographer whipped her face away from him to hide the blush as she answered, “D-don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

Before departing, the pair left a small care package of a glass of water, two painkillers, and whatever wallets and car keys they had confiscated beside everyone’s sleeping forms. Mahiru slapped her cheeks to wake herself up enough to drive Hajime and herself home. 

“Don’t space out on me, yeah?” Hajime smiled from the passenger seat as they pulled out of Fuyuhiko’s driveway, “After the hellscape we’ve slogged through the past three hours, we do not need to get into a car accident on our way home.”

“I’ll be fine,” she smiled back as they started out. The car ride was mostly silent, with Hajime just resting his head against the window and staring out at the city streets silently. Whenever they were stopped at a light or intersection, Mahiru found herself glancing over to admire how peaceful the boy looked. 

“He’s really grown up the past four years since I met him…” she thought.

“Mahiru?” Hajime looked up.

“Yeah?”

“Green light.”

“OH, shit!” the photographer jerked her attention back towards the road, driving much more attentively all the way to the apartment complex which Hajime had recently moved into after graduating from the reserve course dorms.

“Alright, this is your stop,” she said as she pulled in, wiping the sleep away from her eyes.

“You know, Mahiru, you can come in if you’re too tired to drive home,” Hajime said, “No offense, but it was pretty dicey just getting this far.”

Her eyes widened, “H-Hajime! W-what are you implying by that!?”

The boy looked at her strangely, before his own expression morphed into one of horror, “Oh, god, I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I mean, you look so tired, and I’m alright with letting you take the bed! I’ve crashed on my couch before, it’s no big…”

Mahiru hid her blush with her hands as she desperately tried to make sense of the emotion that bubbled up at his response. It was either relief or disappointment, and she was frankly too terrified of it to address it.

“I never said no…” she muttered softly, “Just… be careful what you say from now on. A girl could get the wrong idea…”

“Right, right, sorry. Won’t happen again.”

The pair stepped out of the car and headed up into Hajime’s apartment, which was accessible from outside. The stagnant air was somewhat oppressive to walk into until the boy cracked a window to provide some flow.

“The shower is pretty easy to understand, just turn the knob,” he pointed her towards the bathroom, “Showerhead’s adjustable, but not removable. Towels are in the first cabinet under the sink.”

“Thanks. You sure you’re alright with the couch? I mean, if I’m the one being the guest…”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Hajime’s light chuckle sent butterflies loose in the photographer’s stomach, which she had to work quite hard to quash.

“Alright then,” she smiled as she went on her way.

Mahiru was quick about her shower, not wanting to waste too much of his hot water in case his apartment was on a meter, then headed into Hajime’s bedroom.

“Huh. Shockingly tasteful,” She thought as she sat down on the bed, observing the surroundings. Hajime clearly had at least some sense of interior design. The bookcases were neat and orderly, their volumes alphabetized. The wardrobe was full of copies of the same outfit, like the boy was a cartoon character, which made her giggle. A soft glow from a green lava lamp on the bedside table coaxed her tired head to rest on the pillow.

Mahiru allowed some small, carnal part of herself to revel in the fact that the bed smelled like her crush as she drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hajime awoke the next morning to light streaming in from the window, birds chirping gently in the morning air, and the fire alarm going off.

“What the hell!?” he cried, leaping up from the couch and looking around frantically.

“I’m sorry!” Mahiru’s panicked voice came from the kitchen. The photographer ran around the apartment, opening every window, “I was trying to make toast, and I couldn’t figure out your toaster oven!”

Hajime glanced at the appliance in question as he shut the alarm off, “So I see. You’ve got it set to bake at 350 Fahrenheit for three hours, Mahiru.”

The redhead looked dejected, “Sorry. You were nice enough to let me stay the night, so I wanted to return the kindness with breakfast, but…”

Hajime laughed, “You don’t have to return anything, Mahiru. Tell you what, I’ll fix us up some scrambled eggs. How does that sound?”

Mahiru raised her eyebrows at him, “I mean, if you’re sure… I feel kinda bad not doing anything to help…”

“Oh, relax. We’re friends, right? This is what those are for.”

Hajime began cracking eggs as the photographer took a seat at his dining table. As he glanced over at her, he finally got a good, attentive look at her, and he noticed something.

“Is that…” he asked hesitantly, “...one of my shirts?”

The redhead’s eyes went wide as she looked down, seemingly now remembering that she had swiped it from his closet.

“Y-yeah!” she replied, “I didn’t want to wear the shirt I was wearing yesterday, Hiyoko spilled raspberry cocktail all over it. Sorry, is that a problem?”

“N-no!” he replied, “Actually, I was gonna say you looked kinda cute in it.”

Hajime winced, preparing himself for the inevitable verbal barrage he received whenever he complimented Mahiru. It was tough not to, as he had been crushing on the red-haired beauty for the better part of two years, but he knew from experience that she didn’t take compliments well. He was surprised when it didn’t come, and he cracked his eye open to find her red as a tomato, looking down and inspecting her hands as they were folded in her lap intently. Hajime eventually shrugged and went back to cooking.

The boy worked in silence for a few minutes, until both his and Mahiru’s phones pinged at the same time. He dug his own out of his pocket and read the message that had been sent to the class 77 group chat.

\----

M10da: Yo last nite was so awesum! Cant wait 4 next Fri!

\----

“Next friday?” Mahiru asked with a tone of horror.

“Oh, god, they’re gonna do it again,” Hajime sighed.

“Well, they can count me out of it, I’m not going through that again.”

“Me too. I pulled Kazuichi off of Sonia more times last night than I ever have in my lifetime, which is saying something.”

“Exactly! They can’t expect us to go through that again! No way!”

“No way.”

The pair looked at each other for a moment, examining each other.

“We have to go, don’t we?” Hajime groaned.

“Yeah. Yeah we do,” Mahiru rolled her eyes, “Who knows what will happen if we don’t.”

“We have to make sure nobody kills themselves.”

“Or worse.”

They both just sighed in acceptance. Of course. Why would the nightmare be over after just one night? Why would they be that lucky?

“Here you go,” Hajime said as he set down a platter of scrambled eggs in front of Mahiru, along with a fork and a glass of orange juice.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him, warming his heart as he sat with a similar spread.

“So what are we gonna do about that?” he asked, pointing at the message still pulled up on his phone.

“Well, I dunno about you, but I have no interest in going through that again, two weeks in a row. Since we know what we’re getting ourselves into this time, we can strategize.”

Hajime nodded, “I have work to get to in about an hour, so I’m pretty busy today. Would you be free on, say, Wednesday to talk shop?”

Mahiru checked her calendar on her phone, “Yeah, I have nothing going on then. What did you have in mind?”

“I know a coffee shop on Haganori that allows people to stay there for as long as they like. What do you say we have a strategy meeting there at noon on Wednesday? I’ll send you the address.”

Mahiru nodded as they both finished their plates, “Sounds good to me. I should get going, thanks for breakfast! And for, well, everything else!”

“No problem,” Hajime waved her out the door.

It was only about three hours later, when Hajime texted Mahiru the address of the coffee shop, that they both realized that they were essentially going on a date.

This prospect both excited and terrified both of them to their very core.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was ten AM when Mahiru heard her doorbell ring. She stood up and dashed over, swinging it open.

“Hey, girl,” Ibuki waved, “What’s up? Why call Ibuki over so early?”

“Inside,” the photographer said, tugging the musician into her house before sliding the door shut and locking it.

“Is… everything cool?” Ibuki asked, “D’ya need somebody to protect you from a rabid Teruteru or something?”

“No, not that,” Mahiru shook her head, “I… need your help. I… have a date with Hajime in two hours.”

Ibuki blinked at her, before breaking out into a wide smile, “Freaking FINALLY! Ugh, you ogling that one has been getting on Ibuki’s nerves for years!”

Mahiru blanched, “H-has it been that obvious!?”

“Maybe not, Ibuki’s just perceptive. Anyhoo, whaddaya need my help with?”

“I-I, uhm…” the photographer stammered, “I need to look… good. My fashion sense is already fine, but… that’s just everyday stuff! I don’t usually date, I don’t know how to… well, dress up.”

Ibuki clapped her hands together excitedly, “Oh, don’t you worry, Ibuki’s gonna take goooooooood care of you. Now, where’s your closet?”

“Just through here.”

Mahiru led Ibuki through to her bedroom, opening her closet to demonstrate what she was working with. She kept all of her clothes neatly ironed and hung according to color, dark to light and red to purple, with blacks and whites on either end. The musician nodded approvingly as she began combing through the options.

“What’s up with this shirt?” she asked, holding up a simple white button-up tee that was too big for Mahiru, “It looks familiar, but not for you…”

“Oh, uhm,” Mahiru replied, “That’s one of Hajime’s shirts. I kinda stole it because my shirt was dirty, and I… haven’t given it back.”

Ibuki blinked, before snickering and putting it back, “Hoo, girl, you’re in deep, aren’t you?”

Mahiru just flushed red at that.

“This’ll do,” Ibuki held up a shoulderless green top, with a slight floral pattern around the bottom, “Pair this with some denim shorts or something. Ooh, and some jewelry, if you have it.”

“Of course I have jewelry,” Mahiru scoffed, getting changed, “I have a jade bracelet I could wear…”

“Perfect!” Ibuki gave a thumbs-up, “Now we just gotta work on your strategy! Who asked this date, you or Hajime?”

“Um… well, it was Hajime that suggested it, but I don’t actually think he was intending to ask me out… I’m kinda the one that’s, well, trying to make this into a date.”

The musician thought for a moment, comically stroking her chin with her index and thumb, before shooting her pointer finger up and gasping.

“Eureka!”

“What is it?” Mahiru asked.

“If Hajime doesn’t know this is gonna be a date, let’s just overload him with hormones so that he keeps coming back for more! How are your seduction techniques?”

The photographer’s entire face lit up like a red light bulb as she stared at her friend incredulously, “S-seduction!? Ibuki, I’m not gonna do anything indecent! I’m surprised at you!”

The musician clasped a hand over her heart dramatically, fake fainting like a 1600s lady, “Ooh! Struck down by words! The shame of Ibuki, the shame!”

Mahiru sighed, shaking her head, “I’m just gonna be myself, alright? Look, you said you were observant enough to notice my crush on him before. And you’re pretty close to Hajime yourself, so…”

“Oh, yeah, he’s into you,” Ibuki replied simply.

A few beats of silence.

“R-REALLY!?” Mahiru couldn’t quite keep the exhilaration from her voice as she stood up.

“Yow, easy on the ears,” Ibuki groaned, unaware of the hypocrisy in that complaint, “Yeah, Hajime digs you, but don’t get your hopes up. You’re still gonna have to make the first move, since you also kinda… freak him out.”

The photographer’s former excitement was replaced with shame as she hung her head, “I… know what you mean. I can be pretty hard on him, huh?”

“Eh, yeah. You aren’t exactly gentle with any guy we know, as I’m sure you’re aware, but Hajime’s always gotten the worst of it.”

“Yeah… would you believe me if I said I didn’t do it on purpose? I guess I just… I dunno, hold him to a higher standard because the girl I want him to be looking out for the most is me.”

Ibuki nodded slowly, “Ibuki sees your point. Well, since you’re both in deep with each other as it is, just be yourself with a hint of flirting, and you should be fine. You can do… flirting, right?”

“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll just drop a few hints here and there, and---”

“Nope!” Ibuki shook her head, “Take it from me, hints are a method of flirtation that should be buried and forgotten about. They never work, because guys just don’t pick up on them.”

Mahiru sighed, “Right. Because they’re too dense when it comes to this type of thing?”

“...that, but more so that the rise of false rape allegations and toxic fourth-wave feminism has instilled an intrinsic fear into guys about misunderstanding what isn’t an actual advance, so they ignore a lot of ‘hints’ because there’s no way to be certain from their perspective if the girl is actually flirting with them or if they’re just reading too into it, leaving them paralyzed and unwilling to make the first real move out of fear.”

Ibuki then turned her head to look at a blank wall as a reality TV star would look at a camera, despite there being no camera there.

“Anyway,” the musician continued, “Just be yourself, and be honest with the guy. Obviously, don’t just drop it on him at the start, just have fun with him and confess at the end, so that you guys can go on another date.”

Mahiru nodded slowly. Most of what Ibuki had said had gone over her head, but she got the gist of it.

“Alright then,” she said, “Now what to do about my hair… I haven’t cut it in a while, and it’s longer than I would like it…”

Ibuki’s eyes flashed, “Oh, Ibuki knows just what to---”

“No horns.”

The musician looked crestfallen for a second, before bouncing right back, “Alrighty then, how about this…”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hajime entered the coffee shop about ten minutes early, trying to silence the heavy beating of his heart. Mahiru, obviously, wasn’t here yet, which gave him some degree of peace for the time being as he took a seat at an empty booth.

“This isn’t a date,” he reminded himself, “You’re just two friends, out in a coffee shop, coming up with a plan about how best to deal with fourteen adult babies for a night of inebriation. Nothing romantic about it at all. No sir. Don’t make it weird.”

A waitress approached him, “Hey, welcome. Just you for today?”

“N-no,” he said, “I’m waiting for a girl--- a friend! Oh, god, not a girlfriend, just a girl! Who is a friend!”

The waitress blinked at him.

“Smooth, Hinata,” he thought, “Way to set the tone for this outing. Real great.”

The attention of both Hajime and the waitress was thrown off by the door opening. Hajime turned to look, and his jaw almost fell slack.

Wow.

Mahiru looked gorgeous. A green shoulderless top was accented by a carved jade bracelet nicely, and she wore tight-fitting denim shorts that reached halfway down her thigh, which served to complement her---no, don’t look, Hajime, keep it classy. She had a purple handbag at her side, embroidered with shining pins that twinkled with rhinestones. Mahiru’s hair, having been grown longer than her usual bob, was tied up in a small ponytail that hung down the back of her head. It didn’t look like she had any makeup on, except maybe a light dusting of blush, but she still seemed to glow in the cozy light of the coffee shop.

“Ah,” the waitress gave Hajime a knowing smile, “I see.”

“Hey,” Mahiru waved as she walked over to take the seat across from him, “I got here just in time to order, I see.”

“Indeed you did, miss,” the waitress smiled, “And what can I get you two today?”

“I’ll have a medium cinnamon frappe,” the photographer replied.

“And you, sir?”

“Uhm,” Hajime collected himself, “Just a medium hot chocolate with cream. Thanks.”

The waitress nodded and scurried off, seemingly in too much of a hurry to leave the two of them alone.

“You look nice,” Mahiru nodded, smiling.

Hajime blinked, “T-thanks. You do too.”

Hajime had also put some effort into his outfit for the outing, sporting a french-tucked black button-up with rolled sleeves, and ripped white skinny jeans on top of his best pair of boots. Still though, he was sure he looked positively mundane compared to his boothmate.

“Let’s get down to business then,” Mahiru said, opening her handbag and retrieving a notebook and some pens. She also took out small doodles of all of the former members of class 77, as well as the two of them there. Hajime couldn’t help but chuckle at how comically large she had doodled his ahoge.

“Down to business indeed,” he said, “So let’s tackle this from the top down. Overall, who was our biggest problem last friday?”

Mahiru thought for a moment, “Teruteru. Easily, and for obvious reasons. He’s priority number one.”

Hajime nodded, “He’s fine until he gets about three standard drinks in, then he starts getting handsy. What if we just don’t let him get that far?”

“What do you think we do with him to keep him occupied?”

“Well, how about this: We’re dealing with Akane, Nekomaru, and Byakuya throughout all of this as well, and those three’s general idea of a good time is with a plate of food in front of them. They could probably keep Teruteru busy enough to keep him off the booze until at least some other people are already unconscious, at which point it’s easier for us to handle his antics.”

Mahiru nodded, “Smart. We could probably frame it like an eating contest, which would occupy those three, too. But what to have him make…”

Hajime’s eyes lit up, “Salmon! It’s readily accessible on the cheap, and it has the same chemical as warm milk and turkey, which makes you feel tired! If we’re lucky, this eating contest will take those three out of commission entirely!”

The photographer grinned at him, “Not bad! You can be pretty smart, Hajime.”

Hajime blushed as Mahiru wrote “food contest” under Teruteru, Byakuya, Akane, and Nekomaru’s doodles.

“That’s those four,” Mahiru continued, “How about Kazuichi? How do we keep him from, you know, disgracing himself with Sonia?”

“We may be able to enlist Gundham’s help with that,” Hajime thought, “With the love triangle those three have going on, if we keep Gundham sober and cogent enough for Kazuichi to get inebriated…”

“He might stay sober to protect Sonia!” Mahiru finished, “And therefore help us out in the process! And Sonia herself is a lightweight, so we don’t have to worry about her too badly. Just make sure she falls asleep in a position she can breathe in.”

Hajime nodded. Mahiru scribbled “twilight ripoff” beneath the doodles of Kazuichi, Gundham, and Sonia, which brought a light chuckle to his lips.

“Excuse me,” the waitress said as she approached, platter in hand, “I have your drinks here.”

“Oh, thank you very much,” Hajime nodded as she set the two steaming cups down in front of the pair.

“Is there anything else I can get you two?”

Mahiru looked at Hajime for confirmation before replying, “No, not right now, thanks.”

“Alright, and one bill or two?”

Hajime replied with “one” at the exact same time that Mahiru replied with “two”. The waitress just giggled, clearly enjoying how flustered the latter instantly got.

“Hey! You don’t have to pay for me!” Mahiru exclaimed.

“No, I don’t,” Hajime nodded, “But I want to anyway. I mean, I dragged you out here today, least I can do, really.”

Mahiru blushed a deep red before sighing, “...Fine. But only because I don’t wanna make a big deal out of it or anything…”

“Are you… alright?” Hajime asked, “Your face is all red. Do you have a fever or something?”

“N-no! I just, uhm.... Need to go to the bathroom is all!”

With that, Mahiru stood and bolted to the bathroom, leaving Hajime alone with the waitress.

“Tsundere?” the girl asked dryly.

Hajime blushed, “Oh, no, I don’t think she sees me that way.”

That got him a strange look from her.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Hey, by the way, why do I recognize her? She seems familiar…”

“Oh, she graduated Hope’s Peak recently, so she would have been on the news,” Hajime nodded, “Ultimate Photographer.”

The waitress’ face lit up, “Oh! Didn’t realize I was serving that echelon. Man, you’re one lucky guy, aren’t ya?”

Hajime sighed, trying to hide his rosy cheeks, “Are you always this talkative with your patrons?”

“Only the ones who look as good together as you two do,” the girl smiled and walked away, leaving Hajime alone.

After a while, Mahiru returned with hesitance in her step.

“All good?” Hajime asked.

“Y-yeah…” she replied, taking her seat and sipping on her drink, “A-anyway, where were we? Teruteru, Byakuya, Akane, Nekomaru, Gundham, Sonia, and Kazuichi have been addressed. So our next biggest problem would probably be…”

“Mikan and Ibuki,” Hajime sighed, sipping his hot chocolate as well, “Neither of them would usually pose a problem on their own, but put them together and they kinda… get out of hand.”

“You can say that again. Keeping them apart isn’t really an option, either, so the best move is probably to just keep them away from everybody else.”

“Yeah, good call. Set them up in a bedroom early on, that way the rest of us don’t have to deal with their… antics.”

Mahiru scribbled “private time” beneath the doodles of the two in question.

“Now about Nagito…” she murmured, “He’s a bit of a wildcard.”

Hajime winced, “Yeah. I’ll be frank, I’ve grown numb to most of you guys, but he’s somebody I’m never gonna click with.”

Mahiru nodded, “We could always just task him with something for us. I mean, if an ‘ultimate’ such as myself gave him something to do, he’d probably freak out and devote himself to it wholeheartedly.”

“Great idea. Preferably something very far away from me.”

“What if we just put him on Hiyoko duty? Hiyoko is a sad drunk, so she’ll be largely in hysterics if she drinks as heavily as she did last time. Nagito can just be assigned by me to deal with that. He’d get excited at that prospect, I’m sure.”

Hajime nodded, “So we’ve essentially recruited Gundham and Nagito to do some of our work for us. Nice thinking, Mahiru.”

The photographer blushed slightly, before replying with, “You aren’t so bad yourself…”

“And now that leaves Chiaki, as well as Fuyuhiko and Peko, who will probably be a unit.”

“R-right. Fuyuhiko and Peko, well, we saw how light a weight Peko is. And Fuyuhiko tends to stay away from drugs due to past experience, so he should be able to take care of her.”

“That works for me. As for Chiaki, she’ll probably just do her own thing once stuff starts to quiet down. When we start picking people off, she’ll just play her games until she inevitably falls asleep, so we shouldn’t have to worry about her too much.”

Mahiru looked down, seemingly in contemplation, “Yeah. Right, you would know… you’re pretty close to her.”

Hajime nodded slowly, “Yeah, I’ve known her the longest out of any of you.”

Mahiru didn’t respond quite immediately, instead seeming to be gathering herself.

“Hey, Hajime?” she eventually asked, “About Chiaki… what is she to you?”

Hajime cocked his eyebrow, not really sure how to respond, “Well, she’s a good friend of mine. Why?”

“That’s it?”

“Oh, so that’s what you mean,” the boy shook his head, “I don’t have any romantic feelings for Chiaki, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Mahiru was quiet for a moment, seemingly at a midway point between relieved and terrified.

“And…” her voice was incredibly quiet, almost imperceptible over the din created by other patrons, “What about me?”

Hajime hesitated for a moment, eyes locked with hers.

“You’re… a different case,” he found himself saying.

“Different how?”

Hajime felt fear boil up in his gut, but he quashed it. It was now or never, and she had left the door open for him. He might as freaking well at this point, he figured.

“Well, Mahiru…” he began, voice catching in his throat, “You’re a very good friend of mine, too. And romantically… yeah. Yeah… I have feelings for you.”

The photographer blushed again, while doing something Hajime had very much not expected.

She grinned.

“Oh, that’s a relief,” she said happily, “Because… I have feelings for you too, Hajime.”

Hajime blinked. He looked from her to himself to the drinks to the coffee shop and back again.

“Mahiru, is this a date?” he asked tentatively.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “If you want it to be.”

“Well, now I do,” he chuckled, “Man, I’m an idiot. I had no idea…”

She waved her hand at him, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m in the same boat. Ibuki clued me in this morning, otherwise we would still be at square one.”

Hajime just smiled, tentatively reaching across the table to grab her hand. She turned it palm upwards, allowing their fingers to entwine. They stayed like that for a long while, just smiling and holding hands, looking at each other and taking the occasional sip from their drinks.

“So, since this has evolved from strategy meeting to date,” Mahiru eventually said, “Do you wanna maybe get out of here?”

“Ah, sure,” Hajime nodded, “Any ideas of where you wanna go?”

“There’s a park near here we could walk through. My camera is in my bag, I’d love to get some good shots. Speaking of…”

Mahiru quickly whipped her camera up out of her bag and snapped a photo of Hajime, making sure to get their entangled hands in the shot.

“Ah!” Hajime covered his eyes from the residual flash, “Warn me next time, will you?”

“Sorry,” the girl giggled, “This is just… a moment I’d like to preserve.”

Hajime called the waitress over and paid the bill, pointedly ignoring the look she gave him when she noticed him holding Mahiru’s hand. The couple departed, walking to and through the park that Mahiru had mentioned. The scenery was beautiful, yes, but Mahiru didn’t actually end up taking many photos, for two reasons.

One, she needed two hands to man her camera with any skill, and one of them was occupied doing something very important.

And two, there was something other than the scenery that she was pretty busy admiring.

~~~~~~~~~~

“And... time!”

Mahiru clicked STOP on the stopwatch going on her phone, pumping her fist in exhilaration.

“Woohoo!” she exclaimed, high-fiveing Hajime, “Two hours fifteen minutes from first drink opened, everybody is sound asleep! We are damn good at being the sane ones!”

“Couldn’t have done it without ya,” the boy laughed, setting about cleaning the many, many dirty salmon plates.

“They took the announcement that we were dating much lighter than I thought they would,” Mahiru remarked, grabbing a dish towel to dry the plates off with, “None of them seemed even surprised.”

“I guess that’s just the way it goes. I mean, it was pretty obvious to everybody that Fuyuhiko and Peko liked each other, but they didn’t know until we basically forced Fuyuhiko to confess last year. I guess it was a similar situation with us.”

“I guess so,” Mahiru sighed. She wasn’t a huge fan of the idea that all of their friends knew their feelings were mutual, while they had had no idea, but it didn’t matter in the end. They were together. That was what counted.

They got the dishes done in about fifteen minutes, after which Hajime set about one last check of the house.

“Dishes done, people dreaming,” he muttered to himself, “Floor cleaned, garbage emptied, breakfast prepared and set out, aspirin supplied, keys and wallets returned… yup, we’re good!”

“Amazing,” Mahiru leaned up to give him a small peck on the cheek, “Now let’s get out of here. I’ll drive you home again.”

The boy smiled, “Thanks. Are you gonna stay the night again? You don’t look as tired this time around.”

“I’m not as tired, but I would still like to stay the night with you. How about we go back to your place and watch a movie together?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Before they left, Hajime left a small note taped to the inside of the door, reading “Breakfast is in the fridge. You’re welcome. H + M.”

As he made to open the door to go, he noticed with a smile that Mahiru had drawn a small heart around the “H + M”. 

“You coming?” Mahiru asked, standing at her car with the door open.

“Yeah, coming,” he replied, shutting the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of an apology fic to this ship, as my last Hinazumi work was a lil angsty. As ever so many of the comments on that fic pointed out, these kids deserved to be happy.
> 
> Also, immediately after finishing that fic, I jumped ship immediately and wrote a Hinapeko fic that ended up somehow being longer.
> 
> So, uh, sorry, kiddos. Here, have some fluff.


End file.
